AGAWAM – Upon meeting Kesheal Henderson, she comes across as a typical 17-year-old high school senior who excels in sports.

She talks enthusiastically about how happy she is to be a part of a team, how fortunate she is to be on the verge of playing a Division I sport in college.

But Henderson’s road to field hockey stardom at Mohawk Regional High School is like few others, especially in Western Massachusetts.

Eight years ago, Henderson and her family evacuated to Texas just before the full brunt of Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Not long after, the 9-year-old was in foster care in Texas, separated from her family, which had been torn apart by the physical and emotional trauma caused by the storm.

As Henderson prepares for the remainder of her senior season at Mohawk and to complete the application process at Rider University in Trenton, N.J., all of that seems like only yesterday.

“It was scary in the beginning, but fortunately, I wasn’t one of the ones to stay (in New Orleans) for a really long time,” Henderson said Friday after her team tied Agawam 1-1. “I got out pretty quickly. My brother is to thank for that.

“He loved me a lot, and I was his priority to keep safe, so he made sure I was in Texas before it got really bad.”

That older brother, George, eventually settled in Ashfield – a long way from the tumult of the Crescent City. With help from Nan Parati, owner of Elmer’s Store in Ashfield, Kesheal was eventually paired with a new foster family in Heath – Tara Herzig and Nate Wynne.

Any child who is uprooted in sixth grade will face a challenge. Being African-American in rural Massachusetts was daunting, but Henderson quickly adjusted.

“I knew it was tough at first, just because it was a huge change from the South to here.'' she said. “How they do things is different, and of course the race thing was a big thing for me because I was really used to being around minorities.

“Everybody was really nice to me, and they took me in. That was a big thing for me.”

Henderson never really thought much about sports as a child in New Orleans. That all changed when one of her babysitters in Heath was Kelsey Schmidt, one of Mohawk’s field hockey stars at the time.

Other Warriors stars like Maddie Hoeppner and Aurora Rougeau quickly became Henderson’s idols, and the seeds of a promising career were planted.

“(On) my Mohawk team, she had a lot of young ladies that she looked up to, all girls she wanted to emulate,” Mohawk coach Lynn Hoeppner said. “They took her under their wing.”

As an eighth-grader playing indoor field hockey, she was mentored by several University of Massachusetts players, including current U.S. national team member Hannah Prince.

“She helped me a lot and made me better than I was,” Henderson said.

Not only did Henderson find a sport, she also found an opportunity to better herself both on and off the field.

“Field hockey really saved her,” Hoeppner said. “It helped her focus on academics. We used it as a tool to concentrate in school.”

On the field, there is one skill that separates Henderson from the rest.

“She happens to be faster than lightning,” Hoeppner said.

That speed poses matchup problems for opposing coaches. As a center midfielder, Henderson – who is a sprinter on Mohawk’s indoor and outdoor track teams – often provides scoring opportunities for the forwards by intercepting passes and getting the ball to the offensive zone.

“She has a quick stick, and then she goes with it,” Agawam coach Christine Huestis said.

Henderson has always been fast on her feet. This season, though, she’s become a more dangerous player because her stick work, according to Hoeppner, has finally matched her foot speed and has helped her become a more complete player.

“My middle school coach told me the other day that he saw me viewing the field, which I didn’t do before,” Henderson said. “I would just kind of go.”

Ever since leaving New Orleans eight years ago, it’s been all about different kinds of family for Henderson, so it’s no surprise that a familial feeling connected her with her future school.

Rider University saw something in Henderson, and she was also impressed by the atmosphere created by Broncs coach Lori Hussong and her assistant coach, her husband Dan.

Back home in Heath, Herzig and Wynne have given Henderson the chance to be a big sister to their recently adopted son, 3-year-old Anthony.

“They took me in. It was a new thing for them, and they were such young parents,” Henderson said. “That was hard at first, just because I didn’t know them, and I had to leave my family on the spot. It ended up being a good thing.”

For Kesheal Henderson. For her new family. For Mohawk field hockey. And for anyone who believes in salvation.